Washington Capitals fans could be getting an early Christmas present in the form of captain Alexander Ovechkin’s return from injury.
Head coach Spencer Carbery told reporters Thursday that the 39-year-old is “getting real close” and could play in his first game since Nov. 18 as soon as Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings.
“[He] practiced in a limited fashion with the group, won’t play tomorrow but then we’ll see how the next 48 hours go,” Carbery said in a news conference.
He noted “the next step” would be to have Ovechkin cleared for contact at practice and then evaluate his comfort in team skates heading into a back-to-back Sunday and Monday.
“The Great Eight,” as he’s affectionately known, suffered a fractured left fibula in a collision against the Utah Hockey Club in mid-November but has speedily recovered over the last four weeks.
Ovechkin has been skating in a blue no-contact jersey for almost two weeks, expediting his original four-to-six-week recovery prognosis.
Washington is on a two-game losing skid and could use Ovechkin’s record-chasing skills to get things back on track.
“When he’s out there … I feel like it helps our other guys when we get in scoring situations,” Carbery said.
Whenever Ovechkin does return to game action, he’ll resume his chase of Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record (894). “The Great Eight” paused his campaign with a then-league-leading 15 goals and 868 on his career tally.
Ovechkin is just 27 goals short of passing Gretzky, and if he can pick up things where he left off in November, the record will be danger of being broken before season’s end.
